World in Action

A comedian once said he had cured his friend's manic depression by stopping him watch World in Action. For there on a Monday night sandwiched between a soap opera and a jolly sitcom was our conscience, a reminder that things were not quite right in the world and somebody might be suffering. Most TV shows have a routine compilation edition at the end of the year and one of World in Action's was modestly sub titled 'Sorry,nothing doing' as if to say their years output had made no difference,but this was not so, a World in Action film lingered in the mind and did affect change. Its film on lorry drivers probably pushed through the Tachograph?,its films on mental health definitely helped sweep away the old style mental institutions and the reason furniture today has a 'flame proof' label was probably due to its eye opening film of an armchair catching fire. In today's mass media,issues blow up and shine bright for a couple of weeks and then are forgotten, but in the days when TV was 'the' window on the world a World in Action issue was a slow burner that you would not forget and did eventually make difference.

Back in Thatcher's Britain, rent-a-quote Tory M.P. Matthew Parris overstepped the mark by claiming benefit claimants had it easy. Granada's 'World In Action' challenged him to sign on the dole for one week, and he did. Guess what? He couldn't live on the money! 'World In Action' was a hard-hitting current affairs programme that dared to cover issues ignored by the rest of the news media. During its incredible four-decade run, it covered amongst other things the rise of the National Front, militant infiltration of trade unions, the decline of the N.H.S., questioned whether The Queen should pay tax, presented debates both for and against the restoration of capital punishment, and interviewed Thatcher before she became P.M. It lacked 'gimmicks' such as bimbo presenters, dramatic music and glitzy sets, and went for the jugular.

'World' was axed in 1999, for reasons that are still unclear. In its old slot - Monday 8.30 P.M. - you can now see...another episode of 'Coronation Street'! Who says British television has dumbed down?